Title and statement of responsibility area
Title proper
General material designation
- Object
Parallel title
Other title information
Title statements of responsibility
Title notes
Level of description
Repository
Reference code
Edition area
Edition statement
Edition statement of responsibility
Class of material specific details area
Statement of scale (cartographic)
Statement of projection (cartographic)
Statement of coordinates (cartographic)
Statement of scale (architectural)
Issuing jurisdiction and denomination (philatelic)
Dates of creation area
Date(s)
-
1879-2008 (Creation)
- Creator
- Canadian National Exhibition
- Place
- Toronto
Physical description area
Physical description
4 boxes of artifacts
Publisher's series area
Title proper of publisher's series
Parallel titles of publisher's series
Other title information of publisher's series
Statement of responsibility relating to publisher's series
Numbering within publisher's series
Note on publisher's series
Archival description area
Name of creator
Custodial history
Since its founding in 1879, the CNE has awarded medallions, usually made of gold, silver or bronze, to winners of the various agricultural, musical, artistic, sporting or other competitions. Visiting dignitaries, special guests and the official "opener" of the CNE each year, usually a Canadian or international figure of some prominence, were also presented with medallions.
The obverse of a CNE medallion generally contain a portrait of the person who officially opened that year's CNE, with the reverse depicting the year's theme or an anniversary being commemorated.
In the nineteenth century, CNE medals were produced by Elkington & Company of London, England. In the twentieth century, Toronto jewellers such as P.W. Ellis & Company, Ryrie Brothers and Birks Ltd. (in 1947, all three companies merged to form Birks), produced medallions for the CNE.
Many of the medallions in the collection were designed and engraved by renowned Canadian engravers, including:
Emanuel Hahn (1881 - 1957), engraver of CNE medals from 1923 to 1947. Hahn, an instructor at the Ontario College of Art for forty-one years, also designed the 1935 Canadian Silver Dollar, the 1937 Canadian twenty-five cent piece and the 1937 Canadian ten-cent piece (featuring the Bluenose schooner). Hahn is probably most famous for his statues of Sir Adam Beck on University Avenue and Ned Hanlan, Exhibition Place.
Stanley Hayman (1910 - 1975), who studied under Hahn at the Ontario College of Art, succeeded him as the official CNE medal engraver (1948 to 1974).
Source: CNE Archives, Medals Collection
The artifacts comprising the Medallion Collection were gathered together from multiple sources over a number of years, though the majority of them come from Norman Wells. The rest of the collection has come to the archives through smaller and single item accessions.
In all cases finding accession records of any kind is rare, resulting in provenance, research and organizational issues.
Specifics are given at the item level, when known.
Scope and content
The Medallion Collection consists of two series: Medallion Series and Souvenir Medallion Series. Within each series, medallions are further described at the item level